Method of wrapping elongate articles and product made

ABSTRACT

An elongate article, such as a bundle B of individual elements A with or without an immediate wrapper, is wrapped by forming thereon a winding 20 composed of a strip of wrapping material, and laying on the article a tear member 15 which extends along substantially the entire length of the article and has an end portion thereof exposed. By pulling the exposed end portion of the tear member away from, and along the length of, the article, the wrapping may be disrupted without the use of cutting tools or the like which may damage the wrapped article.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to any package formed by wrappingarticles by strips or narrow widths of material wrapped around thosearticles and in particular to a method of wrapping elongate articles,such as pipes, rods, tubes and other elements, which may besubstantially straight throughout their length, or of curved or othernon-linear form, or even in the form of a closed loop, such elementsbeing wrapped either singly or in bundles, and the term "elongatearticle" as used herein is intended to encompass all such elementseither singly or in bundles. The invention also relates to a packagecomprising an elongate article, as above defined, provided with awrapping in accordance with the method hereinafter described.

Conventionally, such articles are wrapped by means of one or more stripsof paper or the like which are wound helically around them usingappropriate machinery, for example as shown in German PatentSpecification No. 2256708, so that adjacent windings overlap somewhatand may be adhesively secured together where they overlap, although notnecessarily.

A preferred method of wrapping is described in our European PatentSpecification No.0388795 whereby the strip of wrapping material iscoated on one side only with an adhesive of a kind (usually known as a"cold seal" adhesive) which without the application of heat adheresstrongly only to itself, and a longitudinal edge portion of the strip isturned over in such a manner that as the strip is wound around theelongate article being wrapped thereby, that portion of the adhesivecoating which is carried by the turned over portion of the strip engagesa remaining portion of the adhesive coating carried by a non-turned overportion of the strip on an adjacent turn of the winding.

In order to open the package formed by either of the above methods, itis necessary to cut or rip the wrapping material along substantially theentire length of the wrapped article. However, the use of a cutting toolmay damage the wrapped article and although specially designed cuttershave been provided which are intended to prevent damage to the wrappedarticle, these are often lost so that any cutting implement at hand maybe used with attendant risk of damage to the wrapped article. Rippingthe wrapping material may be difficult and unacceptably slow, and alsois not without risk of damage to the wrapped article, at least in somecases.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved method of wrapping, particularly elongate articles tofacilitate the unwrapping thereof when required.

According to the present invention we provide a method of wrapping anarticle by forming a winding thereon of at least one strip of flexiblewrapping material wound helically around said article so that successiveturns of the wrapping material overlap one another, characterised by thestep of laying between the wrapping material and the article alongitudinally extending tear member which extends over substantiallythe entire length of the article with an end portion of the tear memberexposed externally of the wrapping and thereby available to be pulled ina direction away from the article so as thereby to tear through thesuccessive turns of the wrapping material and along substantially theentire length of the article.

The invention also resides in a package comprising an article havingthereon a wrapping comprising at least one strip of wrapping materialwound helically around the article in such a manner that successiveturns of the wrapping material overlap one another and are adhesivelysecured together where they overlap, characterised by a tear memberwhich extends over substantially the entire length of the article withan end portion of the tear member exposed externally of the wrapping andthereby available to be pulled in a direction away from the article soas thereby to tear through the successive turns of the wrapping materialand along substantially the entire length of the article.

Preferably, the tear member extends beyond at least one end of thewrapping in order to afford said exposed end portion, which may beformed into a loop or have a pull-ring, toggle or other member attachedthereto. Alternatively, the tear member may not extend beyond the end ofthe article, but be arranged so as to overlie at least one turn of thewrapping material adjacent to the end of the article. If desired, thetear member may be provided with such exposed end portions thereof atboth ends of the package so that it can be opened from either end at theconvenience of the user.

The wrapping materials which can be employed in accordance with theinvention include paper and the like, films and foils of plasticsmaterials, (including shrink and stretch wrapping materials) and alsothin metal foils as well as laminates of any such materials which mightbe creped, corrugated or otherwise converted, coated or treated.

The tear member may be formed from any appropriate material which iscapable of rupturing the chosen wrapping material. Where the wrappingmaterial comprises paper, the tear member may be formed of tape orthread, or an appropriate metal strip, or a cord or thread of textilematerial or the like, made from a low extending material such aspolypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, hessian, polyester, or other naturalor "man-made" materials or metal(s) or sisal string.

Whilst a length of material constituting the tear member may be laidmanually along the length of the article before it is wrapped,preferably the tear member is applied to the article simultaneously withthe wrapping process by passing the article successively through astation at which the tear member is applied and a station at which thewrapping is applied.

In some cases, depending on the nature of the article being wrapped, thewrapping material, and the material of which the tear member is made,the tear member may be held in place between the wrapping material andthe article by virtue of the tension in the applied wrapping material.However, the tear member may be attached either to the outer face of thearticle being wrapped or to the inner face of the wrapping material soas to restrain it against lengthwise withdrawal from the package whenopening is attempted.

Accordingly, in one case, the tear member may comprise a narrow strip ofappropriate material having an adhesive substance on at least one facethereof. Such material may be applied to the article being wrapped, andsecured thereto by means of a pressure roller so that as the article isadvanced towards the wrapping station, the tear strip is drawn off froma supply thereof by virtue of the advancement of the article during thewrapping process. It will be appreciated that where the articles to bewrapped are of such a nature that such an adhesive might damage orotherwise mark the surface in an unacceptable manner, it would bepossible to provide an inner layer of wrapping material in directcontact with the article, so that the tear strip is thereby adhered tothe inner layer of wrapping material rather than directly to thearticle.

In such a case, the inner layer of wrapping material may comprise awinding of a very soft paper which is easily disrupted so that when thetear member is pulled outwardly to open the outer wrapping it alsoserves to tear open the inner wrapping. Alternatively, the innerwrapping may comprise a pre-formed elongate member which substantiallyencloses the article whilst being open along its entire length so as tofacilitate removal from the article when the outer wrapping has beenremoved. Such an inner wrapping may be require in many instances toprovide additional protection for the article where this comprisesrelatively soft and easily damaged materials, such as plaster or thelike.

Alternatively, such an adhesive strip may be applied to the article withthe adhesive-coated face outermost, an initial length of the strip beinglaid on the leading end of the article as it approaches the wrappingstation, so that such initial length of tear member becomes secured tothe inner face of at least the first turn of wrapping material appliedto the article, whereby the tear member can be drawn onto the remainderof the article as it progresses through the wrapping station.

Instead of relying on adhesive to secure the tear member to the articleor to the wrapping material, the tear member may be drawn onto thearticle by arranging a portion of the tear member to extend across theleading edge of the article so as, at least at the leading end of thearticle, to lay against two opposed faces thereof. Thus, a length of thetear member may extend across the path of advancement of the article,with its free end held stationary, so that as the article is advancedthe tear member will be applied to two opposed faces of the article.Whilst in such a case the tear member could be arranged so as to extendfully along both faces of the article, in practice it is envisaged thatit would be sufficient to release the free end of the tear member afterthe first few turns of the wrapping material have been applied, thewrapping material then being sufficient to hold the tear member in placeas the wrapping operation proceeds. Nevertheless, it would beadvantageous to provide tear members in this way which extend alonggenerally opposite portions of the package thus formed, so that at leastone such tear strip should be easily accessible whatever the orientationof the package when it is required to open same.

In this case, it would be possible to employ non-adhesive tear members,and also tear members in the form of thin filaments, such as nylon orthe like, textile threads or metal wires as previously described.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference toone specific embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

As illustrated, in a generally conventional manner elongate elements Aare-assembled together into bundles B which are held together, forexample by means of rollers (not shown) and advanced through a wrappingstation in the direction indicated by arrow C whilst supported by aroller conveyor indicated generally at 10. In some cases the articlesmay be secured together in the bundle by means of some form of primaryfastener such as self-adhesive tape, or plastic or metal strapping, orthey may be assembled within an inner wrapping (not shown in theaccompanying drawing). Alternatively, a single article may be wrapped.

In the wrapping station, a roll 11 of wrapping material is mounted on aroll holder 12 carried by an annular member 13 which surrounds thebundle B and rotates in the direction of arrow D as the bundle travelsaxially through the centre of the annular member. Material from the roll11 is thus wrapped around the bundle B to form a helical winding 20 inwhich adjacent turns overlap.

In the embodiment as illustrated, one edge of the wrapping material isturned inwardly as it leaves the roll 11 (by means now shown) asindicated at 14 and the in-turned marginal portion is laid onto theopposite marginal portion of the preceding turn of the wrapping,adjacent turns being secured together by means of a cold seal adhesivecoating which is carried by one face of the material in the manner morefull described in our European Patent Specification No. 0388795previously referred to.

In accordance with the present invention a tear member 15 is appliedbetween the bundle B and the winding 20. In the illustrated embodiment,the tear member 15 comprises a narrow ribbon of plastics material withan adhesive coating on one face thereof which is drawn from a supplyroll 16, over guide rollers 17 and under a pressure roller 18 whereby itis pressed into contact with the upper face of the bundle B so as toadhere thereto as the bundle advances through the wrapping station.

A detector indicated by arrow D1 responds to the leading edge of thebundle B as it approaches the wrapping station to apply downwardpressure to the roller 18 thereby pressing the tear member 15 downwardlyinto contact with the upper face of the bundle B. A detector D2 upstreamof the detector D1 is arranged to detect the trailing edge of the bundleand release pressure roller 18, whilst a further detector D3, downstreamof the detector D1, is also arranged to detect the trailing edge of thebundle and to operate a cutter 19 at a position upstream of the detectorD3 to sever the tear member from the supply.

In this way, a length of the tear member 15 is laid along the entirelength of the articles A constituting the bundle B, with an end portionof the tear member extending beyond the trailing end of the bundle. Suchend portion of the tear member is not covered by the wrapping 20 andremains available for a user when it is required to remove the wrapping.The end portion of the tear member may be formed into a loop or may havean appropriate ring pull attached thereto to facilitate subsequentopening of the package.

When the exposed portion of the tear member 15 is pulled in a directiongenerally perpendicularly away from the surface of the bundle B, ittears through successive turns of the wrapping 20 without anypossibility of causing damage to the articles A in the bundle B.

The winding 20, whilst split along its length, substantially retains itsintegrity as a single piece of wrapping, thereby facilitating itscollection and disposal.

Whilst in the embodiment as described, one edge of the wrapping materialis turned inwardly, the material may alternatively be laid on the bundlewithout turning over the edge portion. Likewise, whilst the adjacentturns of the wrapping material are adhesively secured together, this maynot always be required.

Instead of applying the adhesive-coated face of the tear member directlyto the bundle B, an inner wrapping could be interposed between thebundle and the tear member, so that the article being wrapped comprisesa bundle of individual elements with an inner wrapper, which ispreferably such as to be itself disrupted by the tear member when thewrapping material 20 is subsequently opened. For this purpose, the innerwrapper may be formed as a winding of a soft paper. Alternatively, theinner wrapper may comprise a relatively rigid length of cardboard or thelike folded to encase the bundle by bringing longitudinal edges of suchlength of cardboard together around the bundle, so that when thewrapping material 20 is removed, the inner wrapper is open along itslength for ease of access to the elements making up the bundle.Flexible, corrugated cardboard may also be used for the inner wrapper ina similar manner.

In a further arrangement, the tear member 15 could be applied go thebundle B with its adhesive-coated face outermost so as to adhere to theinner face of the wrapping material 20. Alternatively, the tear member15 may be non-adhesive. In either case, to draw the tear member from thesupply roll 16, a gripper (now shown) may be arranged to pull the freeend of the strip downwardly across the path of advancement of the bundlebefore the latter is fed into the wrapping station so that, with thefree end of the tear member held below the conveyor 10 by the gripper,the strip is drawn off the supply roll 16 as the bundle is advanced andlaid onto the upper face of the bundle. After at least one turn ofwrapping material has been applied to the bundle, the gripper may thenbe released, the leading end of the strip then being held in position onthe bundle by the initial turn of wrapping material.

Although the tear member conveniently comprises a ribbon as previouslydescribed, it may be possible to employ a string or cord of natural orartificial fibres, a filament, such as nylon or the like, or a metalwire as previously listed.

Instead of laying the tear member on top of the bundle B it couldalternatively be introduced between the bundle and the conveyor, or onboth top and bottom sides of the bundle.

Whilst the invention has been illustrated as applied to the wrapping ofa bundle of straight elongated elements, it will be appreciated that theelements could be curved longitudinally, or with appropriatemodification of the wrapping machine in the form of closed loops.Similarly single elements rather than bundles may be wrapped in the sameway and where appropriate such single elements or bundles of elementsmay be enclosed in an inner wrapper of any suitable kind, e.g. anelongated cardboard carton or box or similar wrapping as mentionedabove.

However, in all cases the package is provided with a wrapping consistingof overlapping turns of a wrapping material and tear member whichextends across adjacent turns of the wrapping material oversubstantially the entire length of the package.

Whilst the invention is intended primarily for use in connection withelongate articles, that is to say articles having one dimension that issubstantially greater than other dimensions, it will be understood thatthe invention may be employed for wrapping articles of which all thedimensions are generally similar so that there is no predominantlongitudinal dimension. Thus a package of generally cubic form could bewrapped in a similar manner, if necessary by carrying out two successivewrapping operations and turning the article through 90° between suchoperations so as to form a first wrapping around four contiguous facesand a second wrapping around two of the previously wrapped faces and thetwo remaining faces.

I claim:
 1. A method of wrapping an elongate article by forming awinding thereon of at least one strip of flexible wrapping materialwhich has a transverse width that is narrow compared with the length ofsaid article and is wound helically around said article so thatsuccessive turns of the wrapping material overlap one another along thelength of the article wherein the tear member is applied to the articlesimultaneously with the wrapping process by passing the articlesuccessively through a station at which the tear member is applied and astation at which the wrapping is applied, thereby forming a packagecomprising said elongate article and said wrapping material, includingthe step of laying between the wrapping material and the elongatearticle a longitudinally extending tear member which extends oversubstantially the entire length of the article and in contact withsuccessive turns of the wrapping material with an end portion of thetear member exposed externally of the package and thereby available tobe pulled in a direction away from the elongate article so as thereby totear through the successive turns of the wrapping material and alongsubstantially the entire length of the elongate article, wherein thetear member comprises a narrow strip of appropriate material having twoopposed faces and an adhesive substance on at least one of said facesthereof whereby the tear member becomes attached relative to saidelongate article so as to restrain it against lengthwise withdrawal fromthe package when opening is attempted and wherein said adhesive-coatedtear member is applied by means of a pressure roller so that as thearticle is advanced towards the wrapping station, the tear strip isdrawn off from a supply thereof by virtue of advancement of the articleduring the wrapping process.
 2. A method according to claim 1 whereinthe elongate article has an outer face and the tear member is attachedto the outer face of the article being wrapped.
 3. A method according toclaim 1 wherein the wrapping material has an inner face and the tearmember is attached to the inner face of the wrapping material.
 4. Apackage comprising an article having thereon a wrapping formed inaccordance with the method as claimed in claim
 1. 5. A method ofwrapping an elongate article by forming a winding thereon of at leastone strip of flexible wrapping material which has a transverse widththat is narrow compared with the length of said article and is woundhelically around said article so that successive turns of the wrappingmaterial overlap one another along the length of the article wherein thetear member is applied to the article simultaneously with the wrappingprocess by passing the article successively through a station at whichthe tear member is applied and a station at which the wrapping isapplied, thereby forming a package comprising said elongate article andsaid wrapping material, including the step of laying between thewrapping material and the elongate article a longitudinally extendingtear member which extends over substantially the entire length of thearticle and in contact with successive turns of the wrapping materialwith an end portion of the tear member exposed externally of the packageand thereby available to be pulled in a direction away from the elongatearticle so as thereby to tear through the successive turns of thewrapping material and along substantially the entire length of theelongate article, wherein the tear member comprises a narrow strip ofappropriate material having two opposed faces and an adhesive substanceon at least one of said faces thereof whereby the tear member becomesattached relative to said elongate article so as to restrain it againstlengthwise withdrawal from the package when opening is attempted andwherein such adhesive-coated tear strip is applied to the article beingwrapped with the adhesive-coated face outermost, an initial length ofthe strip being laid on the leading end of the article as it approachesthe wrapping station, so that such initial length of tear strip becomessecured to the inner face of at least the first turn of wrappingmaterial applied to the article, whereby the tear strip can be drawnonto the remainder of the article as it progresses through the wrappingstation.
 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the elongate articlehas an outer face and the tear member is attached to the outer face ofthe article being wrapped.
 7. A method according to claim 5 wherein thewrapping material has an inner face and the tear member is attached tothe inner face of the wrapping material.
 8. A package comprising anarticle having thereon a wrapping formed in accordance with the methodas claimed in claim 5.